Students investigate early African civilizations. They create Kufi hats, musical instruments, pottery and African masks, sing songs, play African studenT games, and participate in a feast and tour of a museum where their artwork is...

Students explore the connections between Langson Hughes and blues music. In this African American culture lesson, students compare and contrast blues music with poetry and short stories by Langston Hughes.

Students explore how migration to Harlem created a new life for African Americans. In this cross curricular lesson plan, students illustrate maps showing the migration, paint murals representing African American life in the South...

Students investigate the role of the buffalo soldiers. In this African American history lesson plan, students research the African American soldiers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Students discuss their findings and compose songs that...

Students trace James Brown's rise from "Little Junior" in Depression-era Augusta, Georgia, to the "Minister of the New Super Heavy Funk" and create a collage that captures his impact on American music.

Students examine how American Jews affect music and entertainment. They identify problems between immigrants and their children. They relate the Jewish American issue to those of African Americans.

Students analyze the role of masks in African culture. In this African masks instructional activity, students read about the importance and meaning of imagery of African masks. Students observe animals in local ecosystems and create a...

Seventh graders study about the musical rhythms and instruments of Puerto Rico. Then they construct their own instruments using recycled products. Students listen to different genres of music and define them. Students focus on the...

Students investigate call and response singing.  In this fine arts and U.S. history lesson, students listen to several call and response songs that were sung by African-American slaves during the period before the Civil War. ...

Learners prepare and organize a cultural celebration of African migration and immigration. Working in groups or individually, they research topics and present the information, including dance demonstrations, instrumental or vocal...

High schoolers investigate African American history by researching culture. In this Harlem Renaissance lesson, students identify the teachings, music and art associated with African Americans in Harlem in the early 20th century. High...

Middle schoolers explore and investigate the foundation and history of jazz music. They listen to various pieces of music while creating drawings, develop a timeline of jazz history, and read and discuss biographies of famous jazz...

A reading of Walter Dean Myers' "Harlem" sets the stage for studying the literature, art, and music of the Harlem Renaissance. The lesson begins with a review of the social, political, and economic conditions of the 1920s and 1930s that...

Students read and discuss a selection of news clippings, sermons, and narratives that depict the continued struggle for equality and mistreatment of African American citizens. They present a "60 Minutes"-style news program with the...

Students complete a unit of 9 lessons to learn about realism in music during the time of the Underground Railroad. In this music realism lesson, students learn about coded lyrics in the slave songs. Students complete 9 lessons using...

Students listen and respond to various forms of Caribbean music. In this music and culture lesson, students clap rhythms and respond to a sung call. Lyrics are analyzed for language blends and repetition. Music and culture from Puerto...

Ninth graders consider the impact of development on African kingdoms. In this cultural diversity lesson, 9th graders conduct independent research to determine how development has changed Africa. Students write research papers based on...

Students investigate the African American culture in the 1920's and the Harlem Renaissance. They read and analyze poems written by poets of the Harlem Renaissance, listen to jazz music and identify the characteristics of the music, and...

Students analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...

Young scholars explore, analyze and discuss family origins, special legacies, and racial/cultural groups in literature and art that exposes them to positive examples in African-American history and culture. They encounter examples from...

Students sing the song "Harriet Tubman" by Walter Robinson. In this African-American history lesson, students review code words that were used during the slave trade and listen to the song "Harriet Tubman". Students create movements to...

Students discover the people of Africa by creating a PowerPoint presentation.  In this African culture lesson, students utilize the Internet to investigate a specific African tribe and their specific location, culture, and way of...